blogging about life.

Tag Archives: marketing

It isn’t often that we stop to consider who we are, and why we do what we do. We should though, it is a worthwhile exercise.

Personal branding is a powerful thing, it is an intangible collection of heritage, skill sets, experiences and personality. An encapsulation of your character and identity. I recently needed to figure out my own brand.

I came to understand that my personal brand is the culmination of all the years of being Richard Wright. As a professional speaker, it is all I have and all that I am. But somehow it is easy to fall into the trap of wanting to call a new business something smart, something relevant to the nature of the business.

Years ago, when the seeds were initially sown and I was considering a name for myself as a speaker, a respected businessman and start up authority cautioned me. He said that as a speaker it was important to create a brand around my own name, as I am the product.

He is right of course. My future is solely dependent on my ability to resonate with others through my words, my thoughts, and my speech. Being me.

I didn’t need much convincing.

I was very aware that a brand needs a strong identity on the internet, and that’s where I ran into some trouble. A quick Google search of ‘Richard Wright’ will reveal that there are three very prominent namesakes out there. The drummer for Pink Floyd, an African American black consciousness writer, and a UK football goalkeeper. All very famous in their own right.

To stand out, I couldn’t just be Richard Wright. Although I registered the richardwright.co.za domain easily, I was after a dotcom site. I am thinking big.

My creative director suggested a few alternatives around Richard Wright, and then sent me a text that jumped right out at me. ”I think it should be iamrichardwright” she said, “and I can get the domain.”

That was it!

The words ‘I am’ are tattooed on my right forearm. It has been a big part of my journey as Richard Wright, figuring out who I am, and it is a strong conceptual thread running through many of my presentations.

Until you have figured out who you are, until you can figure out what defines you as a human, the very essence of you, you are unlikely to feel fulfilled, nor reach your true potential as a human.

It isn’t the person you have become to satisfy the demands of your parents, colleagues, friends, greater society and your social circles, it is your true identity.

A quote that has stuck with me since my late twenties is the following, “I am, two of the most powerful words, for what you put after them defines your reality.”

I have grappled with my identity for most of my life. Never feeling comfortable nor true to the confines of the boxes I have been squashed into since my childhood.

Cancer stripped away all the facades, everything that wasn’t me. When you face death and start wrapping up your affairs, there is no longer a need nor any point to a pretence. It is the greatest chance you will get at being totally authentic. That’s one of the gifts of cancer.

Cancer was the catalyst, and the reason I started my identity forearm.

In the words of a very prominent, more mature woman in my life at the time of getting my first tattoo – Hint: I’ve known her all my life – “That’s permanent right?”

You think very carefully about any word you tattoo on your body that follows those two words ‘I am’.

It cannot be fleeting, it has to be 100 percent authentic. Some of the words have both positive and negative connotations, some are symbols, and two were written by my daughters. Collectively, it is Richard Wright. And I am Richard Wright.

I am speaking as a result of all that has happened, and all that has made me whom I am today. I have a story to tell. I am sharing my journey. I also believe firmly that I am fulfilling my purpose.

My why, has unravelled my purpose in life. That’s an incredibly exciting thing for me.

My purpose as ‘iamrichardwright’ is to assist others in unravelling their own purpose and their ‘why’. I don’t believe that you have to contract a terminal disease to arrive at that point. Happiness is an integral thread through my story and helping people to discover how to find happiness in a career, at home, in time of challenge, and even in the mundane drudgery of an average week is key for me.

I want to inspire and facilitate change, be that in a mindset, in the smallest of ideas, or through the biggest of life changes.

Creating a logo around my personal brand was a delightful journey of its own. The iamrichardwright logo is a mix of many elements.

The irregular outline of the logo represents a bicycle chainring, and not just any chainring. The second tattoo I got is of a 1970 Campagnolo Super record 52 tooth Chainring. In the middle of the chainring is a large ‘B’ for bicycle and for Bailey, my youngest daughter. I was born in 1970.

Let me explain the significance. The chainring is the round, toothed, flat piece of metal that is attached to your right pedal on a bicycle. The chain runs over the teeth, and as you pedal, the chainring pulls the chain forward and that in turn makes the back-wheel turn.

I have always had an affinity for circles. The circle of life, and the seasonal nature of life. It symbolises the self, wholeness, completion, and totality.

I have spent an inordinate amount of time throughout my life on a bicycle. It has been a big part of my journey, and the interesting thing about a chainring is that it is the exact same circle turning over and over and over again.

Each revolution costing work and energy, but each time it is turned you find yourself in a new place. Never the same. Constant change. The inevitable part of life.

The font I have chosen is similar to that used on my baptism certificate back in 1970, as well a hospital certificate. It resonates. Blue is Mackinnon’s favourite colour, and Bailey’s is purple.

I love old things, and the retro vibe. Especially relevant is the fact that the seventies are back, and this is my time to take advantage of all that has happened since then. Just like the seventies, I too am back. As the truest version of me yet. The retro microphone resonates with me, and it’s the only tactile tool in my toolbox.

Finally, the symbol we use to terminate a sentence, to signify the end, is a full stop. I am a terminal human although I have survived two terminal cancers. The logo as a whole represents my full stop. The inevitable end. My personal brand is everything I am, and how I choose to spend my working hours as I journey to that end.

My brand is me and a microphone. I am raw, and authentic. Real, and vulnerable, yet strong.

I couldn’t be the drummer, the writer, nor the goalkeeper…

I have a unique identity…

Iamrichardwright

Want to know how you can change your life?

Book me, and allow me to help you to unravel your very own personal brand.

“Richard, what is the secret to success in this business?” I have been asked that question more frequently than anything else any estate agent ever asks me. And I have to say at the outset that the answer is an extremely simple one, one I have given to thousands of agents over the past 10 years. Often the same agents ask it again and again, as if they refuse to believe that that’s all it is. Or they try, don’t see immediate results, and give up. And then most look for the shortcuts. What I know is that the Real Estate Rockstars, those who are at the pinnacle of sustained and repeated success, all spend at least 80% of their time working at this formula for success. All of them.

When the time comes for any potential seller or landlord of a property to investigate the market and call in a couple of agents to discuss the property in relation to the market, that person will always make first contact with the agent that he or she knows. Simple, and it happens without fail. As a property owner, my first choice is always going to be an agent I know (or whom at the very least I have met face to face and have had an exchange), because I will have the greatest chance of trusting that person. Secondly, a potential client will contact an agent who is known to a close friend, colleague or family member, and who has been referred to him or her. And for the very same reason as the first choice. And thirdly, a potential client will contact the agent he or she believes is the most successful in the area. That perception is predominately built on visibility, the agent who has the most visual presence. Normally through; For Sale, Sold, To Let, and On Show boards, signage, vehicle branding, Ads, marketing collateral such as drops, and even the lowly little name-badge.

So therefore, as we know that the agent who ‘owns’ the stock will always have the greatest control of the market, and will always be guaranteed commission, it stands to reason that the only questions that need be asked of any agent in this regard are the following;

Will you get the first call? How many property owners in your area KNOW you?

If you don’t get the first call, will you get the second?’ How many people who KNOW you will refer you, and do they?

If you missed the first and second call, will you get the third? Are you the most VISIBLE agent in the area?

It sounds so simplistic, and you will probably be thinking that there is so much more to it. And yes there is. Once you get the call what next? What do you say and what do you do? How do you make sure that you leave the house with a signed mandate? But that is a subject for another blog, because none of it is relevant if you are not getting that initial call to potentially list a property. Get that right first.

We use this exact same process when looking for any professional to perform an important service. For instance, If I need to go to a dentist, I will go to one I know, as long as I think they’re good. If I don’t know one, I will always ask if anybody I know can recommend one, if they can’t, I will find one. Which one? The one that looks busy, successful, and reputable. The experience I have with that dentist will determine whether they will become my dentist of choice or not.

How do people get to know me? Well I think that right there is the biggest mistake agents make, they ask the question in that manner, instead of asking it the following way, ‘what can I do to get to know people?’ Subtle difference. Agents assume that by shoving copious amounts of collateral in postboxes, putting branding up everywhere, using social networking, and creating visibility people will get to ‘know’ you. Please don’t misunderstand me, those are all fabulous initiatives if all you want is to remain top of mind and create the perception of success, but remember, another agent already got that first call… The agent who assumes that clients will come to them to get to know them, is going to wait a very long time sitting next to a phone that does very little ringing.

How can YOU get to know people? Well, knock on doors, spend time in the community, add value, get involved in various initiatives, join sport clubs and social clubs. Socialize, get involved in schools, community forums, shop where residents shop – when they shop – and engage people. Take an interest. Initiate conversations, but always remember to make everything you do about the other person. Just be genuine, be real, be you. Don’t be that guy who gatecrashes every wedding and funeral wearing a namebadge. People see through a fake faster than you can say ‘bad agent’. Fake is the quickest route to the shortest career. What follows is a simple analogy, but a very powerful one; if you go on a first date and the other person spends the entire evening talking about themselves, and then wants something from you – like another date for instance – is there likely to be another date? No!

Stop asking for things, and rather ask what you can do, what you can give, what you can add, how you can benefit others. The fact that people know what you do is enough. Shift the focus onto them.

Get the other person to talk, and then listen. From then on, stay in touch, regularly. Simple. Its a guarantee of success. We all want to be remembered.

It’s not going to happen behind your desk, it’s not going to happen on your laptop, it’s not going to happen easily. But if you work at it all the time, if you persevere, if you’re consistent and persistent, then slowly, slowly, the results will be evident. There are no shortcuts. This is without a doubt the hardest part of real estate, but the most necessary. Real estate is a long term game, not a short term one. It’s hard work and you will need to persevere, but you can have a lot of fun along the way.

So there you have it. Two words, ‘become known’. The secret to real estate. Everything else in this business only matters if your phone is the phone that rings first. Real estate does not happen in an office, it happens on the streets.

80% of you reading this will not follow the advice. You will be obliged to scrap for the 20% of the spoils that are left over. 20% of you will listen and will become the Rockstars who will earn 80% of the money. Tale as old as time. True story. It’s your choice.

Good luck to you. I hope this helps you to become a Rockstar if you aren’t already one 🙂

Next time we will look at how to go about building trust with clients. Please feel free to comment and engage with me, let me know if you found this blog helpful. I’d like to hear from you.

[It must be said that the concepts above are true for ALL sales people no matter the product, merely apply the same principles.]